Alpha
by HM Grayson
Summary: Two packs. Two leaders. One living room. With the vampires gone, Sam and Jacob each get a brief moment of introspection before they try to figure out what to do with two packs in one town.
1. Sam

Disclaimer: If I owned _Twilight, _I wouldn't need to write fanfiction about it.

A/N: Takes place right after _Breaking Dawn. _The second half is sort of necessary for this to make sense, so I'll get that up soon.

* * *

...to the victor belong the spoils of the enemy...

* * *

Sam sat upon the dining room chair their ancestors had hand-carved over fifty years ago.

Jacob dropped into the ratty blue armchair that Old Quil had gotten for twenty dollars at IKEA.

He had given no thought to where he would sit or how it would look—or maybe Sam was underestimating his younger counterpart. The armchair could not be moved without incurring the wrath of Old Quil and so Sam had to carry his chair around the coffee table so they could look each other in the eye.

Sam dismissed the thought as paranoia because Jacob was far too young to be giving any thought to strategy or appearance. The way he devoured Emily's biscuits just went to prove that. There were crumbs all over his shirt and Sam might be a werewolf, but five year old children would be embarrassed at just how carelessly Jacob was wolfing down Emily's admittedly delicious cooking. The sight was even more jarring since Jacob no longer resembled a child at all.

He had grown even more in the past month, though Sam had thought it would be impossible. Jacob was the tallest now (much to the displeasure of Jared and Embry) and the most obviously muscular (which Paul and Quil were never going to forgive him for) and far bigger than Sam, now. He was bigger than all of them. And he was still the most adaptable by far (though Seth was still the most enthusiastic). Sam knew that if Jacob wanted to seize something through brute force there would be no stopping him one-on-one. But it wasn't too bitter a truth—Sam might not have had the sheer strength, but he did have the numbers. Jacob might be strong, and his followers might fight well, but at the end of the day Sam was the one who could force his will. Twelve versus five wouldn't be a fight but a massacre.

It wouldn't come to that; Sam was sure. Despite how the scene in Quil Ateara's living room looked—two men gazing at each other across a low table—it was only a mirage. Closer inspection revealed the lie. The faintest trace of innocence still clung to Jacob; immaturity decorated the costume of a man he nervously wore. Sam was still dealing with an emotional, irrational seventeen-year-old kid. He would yield to the voice of authority.

The door opened and the rest of the werewolves swarmed in, shattering the tense silence.

Sam stood up to greet his pack. Across the room, Jacob greeted Quil and Embry with casual hello, refusing to budge from his position on the chair. With a careless wave Jacob motioned them towards the couch, telling them to take a seat.

It was hard watching Embry and Quil with Jacob; Sam had to admit it though he didn't want it to. Losing the two valuable members of his pack had been inconvenient, but the influx of new recruits made finding replacements easy enough. It wasn't losing Quil and Embry that bothered Sam. As the three best friends joked across the room, Sam could admit what he was most jealous of was the feelings between them.

Jared and the others would die for their Alpha. The same could be said about the other pack, Sam was sure—Embry, Quil and Seth (and maybe even Leah and that hurt the worst) would die for their Alpha. But they would also die for Jacob and Sam couldn't help but be jealous.

The boys around him—his brothers—had not been his friends first. They would never know Sam, just follow SamtheirAlpha. Most days Sam thought this was perfectly acceptable. And then Embry and Quil and Seth would light up when they saw Jacob and...

It was stupid. That sort of friendship only worked when it went both ways and if it went both ways...then Leah's life continued only because of the duty one teenage boy felt towards another (Seth's hero worship might have been embarrassing but Sam was grateful even if he probably, maybe, possibly might not have risked it and the self-loathing didn't make that any less true). But that didn't make Jacob risking himself for anyone less stupid. What would the packs do without their leader?

Paul demanded they start soon, fidgeting beside his Alpha.

"The Clearwaters will be here soon," Jacob promised. "And you have to wait for Max."

Sam glanced around and sighed with annoyance. The youngest member of the pack had failed to show up on time—as he usually did. It wouldn't be necessary to wait. The boy could find out what he had missed later. But Sam was still loathe to upset Leah, as starting without her was sure to do, so he agreed with Jacob to delay beginning even if it wasn't necessary.

The whole meeting was just a formality. If an entire pack had to be present it was Jacob's that was necessary. The decision about whether they would come back was theirs.

They needed to come back. As necessary as it had been for Jacob to separate in order to protect his imprint, it wasn't natural for there to be division among the tribe. Unity was the way of the past and Sam knew it was the way of the future. They were too dangerous to be divided.

The doorbell rang out and Emily went to get it, coming back with Leah by her side, Seth and Max joking cheerfully behind the two women. Sam was not aware of the two boys separating, Max sitting on the floor by Colin while Seth went to sit by Quil. He was too busy gazing in horror at Leah's outfit.

Did she know she was wearing the same dress that she had worn the night she had become a woman? Sam wouldn't have put it past her. What had once been a loose summer shift now stretched across womanly curves, the hem dangerously high now that she was part of the legends as well. The shoes were different, at least. They were soft leather boots, highlighting well-developed thighs, thighs that had once—

Sam couldn't help but smile at his wife as she caught his eye from across the room. For a moment, the fear fled as she blew him a kiss before retreating to the kitchen to keep Quil Sr. company. Sam would unite the packs again. He would.

Meanwhile, Leah had greeted her pack with her now customary scowl. Embry looked reluctant about shifting to accommodate her, but the female wolf shook her head.

Was its Leah's presence that made the difference? Or was she some sort of signal? Or had she just opened Sam's eyes the way she so often did?

For right in front of him the old lumpy armchair had been transformed. As Jacob sat up and placed his arms on the armrests, feet securely on the floor, it ceased to be a chair.

It was a throne.

Leah perched lightly on the armrest, her legs crossed, her arm around the back of the chair as her head bent low to whisper into her Alpha's ear. Jacob responded quietly, expression alternating between annoyed, amused and attentive. Like some kind of supernatural spirit she spoke with him, her body serpentine around her leader.

It couldn't have been more obvious to Sam is she had walked into the room and declared it was time for Jacob's coronation. The land had decreed Jacob the Alpha and Sam might selfishly want to prevent this but the land had spoken. He was about to be shed like an old skin in the spring.

He wanted to call Emily to his side as if having another woman beside him could balance out the vision of power before him but instinctively he knew it would be futile. Emily had no right to be in the room. Leah had the right to sit by Jacob's side (because of the blood in her veins and the blood she had been willing to shed in his name). Not just a right, Sam finally understood, but a duty, like they all did, to stand by Jacob, who nature had decreed Alpha.

Worse than the horrible realization that Jacob had been chosen and Sam had not was that Jacob knew it. He knew what it meant to Sam to see Leah with the opposition, even she didn't. His Lee-lee had a tumultuous relationship with honesty, but she could never bear to be parted from it for long. Subtly was never her style—she always came right out and said what she meant. That's why he loved her, why he hated her now. Leah was too honest, too often.

But Jacob...Jacob was not. Jacob said and did what had to be done. And if parading Leah around would remind Sam exactly how much he had lost and how little power he really had, Jacob would do it no questions asked.

Leah was more than just Sam's ex-girlfriend—she was the first and only female werewolf, the daughter of two Elders and someone with blood that was second only to Jacob's (Sam had a rather frequent nightmare where Jacob never phased and Leah was his beta instead). She was a hell of a symbol for Jacob to have on his side.

So Jacob let her perch beside him, let her brush the crumbs from his shirt like a dutiful servant. Sam watched as her fingers danced across the material, even as Jacob turned his head to address his pack. Why had Sam been so blind before?

Ateara, Black, Clearwater—the names of three of the most respected elders in La Push danced through his mind. Across from them sat their most direct descendants. Chances were that even Embry was closer to the council than Sam Uley, whose father had been kicked off in disgrace. That made them stronger, more powerful. Suddenly twelve to five didn't seem like great odds.

Jacob whispered something in Leah's ear and Sam watched as she smiled, the almost forgotten smile that had once been only for him. Her hands went to Jacob's hair, pushing a tiny piece just out of his eyes, the gesture so intimate that Sam had to look away.

Jacob cleared his throat and Sam knew the meeting was about to begin. Without complaint this time Embry shifted over to make room for Leah, who uncurled herself from the chair, locking eyes with Sam. He shivered involuntarily and she grinned. She knew him too well—she knew he knew he had lost already. Sam looked to the man in the chair who only smirked.

The time for speaking up was speeding past but Sam could not force the words out through his closed throat. It was his only chance but he could not make even himself obey.

Jacob leaned forward, his eyes far from the innocent orbs of a teenage boy:

"Let's get this show on the road. Is there anything you want to say first, Sam?"

There's no point, Sam wanted to say but couldn't. His sudden realization was much too overwhelming. He was a fool to think that Jacob's pack might join his at the end of the meeting. He would be lucky if he didn't call Jacob 'Alpha' as he slunk out.

* * *

To Be Continued...


	2. Jacob

There were a host of empty chairs scattered around Old Quil Ateara's living room. Sam was already sitting down and Jacob figured he should sit across from the older boy. Billy would have said it was a good idea for them to having the meeting eye to eye. But ever since Jacob was five years old he had sat in the blue armchair when he went to Quil's grandfather's house and he wanted the familiarity when they did this thing.

If Sam didn't like it...well, Sam picked up his chair. He evidently didn't mind _that_ much.

"Would you like something to eat, Jacob?" Emily offered.

"Thanks," he said. The cookies were chocolate chip and warm and he grabbed a whole handful more. "Thanks, Emily," he repeated as he stuffed his mouth.

It gave him a good excuse not to talk to Sam. Why had he listened to his father and shown up early? This was just awkward. There wasn't much he wanted to say to the guy who was trying to order all of his friends—and Leah—to abandon him. Just because Sam didn't like the idea of werewolves and vampires getting along without the excuse of an invading army, Sam was going to ask the others to come back. He was going to ask them to leave Jacob.

Could he be a pack of one? Jacob wasn't exactly eager to find out.

Maybe it was the right thing Sam was doing, trying to keep the werewolves away from the Cullens. Their house still stunk. And Esme was going to overfeed someone, someday. Jacob barely held in his snort of laughter—Sam wouldn't believe the only thing the werewolves really had to worry about was having the Cullens forcibly adopt Seth.

Fortunately, he didn't have to keep up a stoic facade any longer. The door opened and the others poured in.

"Took you long enough," he called as his two best friends came over. The members of the other pack were behind them, but Jacob would worry about them later.

"Where'd you get the cookies from?" Quil demanded, looking around.

Embry asked: "Emily's here?"

"In the kitchen," Jacob confirmed. "I think she made a couple carrot cakes for later, too. Smell that? We should grab them while their hot."

"I want to marry that woman," Embry sighed as Quil went to ransack the kitchen. "Did she make muffins?"

"Maybe. I didn't look. Where's Seth?"

Embry dropped to the couch beside him and rolled his eyes. Leah's fault, then. "_Someone_ wasn't ready when we showed up. Seth said he didn't mind waiting for her so we went ahead. You know how long girls can take."

"The longer she takes the better." Grabbing his part of the food from the returning Quil, Jacob watched the expressions on his best friends' face as he said, "Sam's agenda is pretty clear. If you guys want to go back..."

He really really wanted them to say no, but Jacob knew he had to ask. They were his best friends, Quil and Embry, and he didn't want to be the one responsible for hurting them. If they wanted to go back...and leave him all alone...he would let them. He would even make sure Sam gave them a break.

"We aren't leaving, stupid," Quil said.

"You make us do even more dumb patrols than Sam," Embry laughed. "Why would we want to go back?"

"Thanks."

It wasn't enough to convey how grateful he was, but it was the best Jacob could come up with. They smiled and understood. Thank goodness the lovefest was broken up by Paul's whining.

"When the hell are we going to start?"

"The Clearwaters will be here soon." Jacob hoped he was telling the truth. That was when he noticed that the crowd behind Sam was smaller than it should be. "And you have to wait for Max."

"Fine," Sam agreed.

He wanted to get this over with Jacob realized. Sam thought this was just a formality. There was no fire burning down his spine, but Jacob found himself angry in a different way. He didn't want to transform but he wanted to yell for a little bit. The rogue pack might not be orthodox, but it was _his_ and Sam couldn't just lazily demand it. Tradition or no tradition, Jacob wasn't going to give up his friends without a fight.

Jared headed off to the bathroom, which is when the doorbell rang. Finally, the Clearwaters had showed up.

"And that's why I'm glad I haven't imprinted," Embry whispered, whistling under his breath.

"I still have eyes," Quil shot back.

Jacob couldn't help sitting up a little straighter as Leah walked into the room. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen her in a dress, but...yeah. Sometimes it was easy to remember why he had liked Leah before she went all crazy bitter.

"Hey Jake!" Seth called. "Sorry we're late."

"It's fine, Seth," Jacob assured the youngest member of his pack. It was bad form to stare at Seth's sister while he was right there though it didn't stop Embry from muttering, "Really fine."

It was easy not to laugh though Jacob normally would have. Now that Leah was close enough to talk to she was a lot harder to get along with. She was complaining already.

"Way to leave room, Embry. No wonder you can't get any. I can't believe you're making me sit on the floor."

Embry shifted uncomfortably, forcing down his retort when Jacob glared—it was too damn early for them to be pulling their usual crap. Besides, Jacob reasoned, if Embry kept his trap shut Leah would find room on the couch somehow. She was resourceful most of the times. And Embry might not like Leah, but he was going to really enjoy sitting up against _that_.

Only she didn't sit in the space Embry was trying to pretend he wasn't eager to make for her. Instead she looked right at Jacob and sat down on the armrest beside him.

"You're not going to stay here, are you?" Jacob asked as she made herself more comfortable. "Because I don't need you hovering."

"You need all the help you can get, kid."

"Which you're going to give me. By running your mouth like you usually do, keeping Sam distracted. All of which you can do from the couch."

"I need to talk to you."

"So talk." Why did she always have to make things so difficult?

Leah bit her lip, but when she spoke even Jacob figured it wasn't what she meant to say: "Paul said I looked like a guy yesterday."

"You can let him stare at you while you're on the _couch_."

And stare Paul would. He was currently drooling (Rachel probably wouldn't complain if Jacob broke his nose this time), and Jacob was pretty sure Colin and Brady and company weren't sneaking looks at him. After staring down the opposing pack—Paul gave in even faster than Colin, knowing Jacob was just looking for an excuse—Jacob asked, "Was this really necessary?"

"I spent two hours in my closest today looking for a dress I hadn't torn to pieces. I am going to remind those idiots I am female for as long as possible. Being in your pack means I can do what I want again. Right?"

"Yeah," he muttered. "Wear whatever you want. I don't care."

"Yeah, because who care what the harpy looks like?"

"Shut up, Leah. The self-pity is getting old."

To his great surprise it worked.

All she said was: "You ready for this?"

"Piece of cake," he assured her.

"Is that why you look like a slob?" she demanded. He would have complained she was acting like his mother, but when she leaned over the most magnificent rack he had ever seen was inches from his face. He might have imprinted but he wasn't dead, so he let her work out her frustrations on his unlucky t-shirt.

"Jake, Sam looks pissed," Embry pointed out.

"So what? We could take him."

"It would be fun, too," Quil said. "Why don't we ask to settle it that way?"

"Boys," Leah muttered, even as Seth piped up, "It would be the Ultimate Showdown. I bet the Cullens would referee it if we asked."

He and Quil got into an argument over whether a gigantic electric scoreboard was too much—Jacob was with Seth; it was just overboard enough. But the Alpha didn't get to cut in, because Embry interrupted.

"Jared's almost done."

"You should sit down," Jacob told Leah. But she didn't move, just bit her lip again and stared at him some more. It was a little unnerving. Much more gently than he intended, Jacob asked: "What's wrong?"

Her voice was so low it wasn't even a whisper. Even as close as he was, even with werewolf hearing, Jacob could barely hear her.

"You're not going to make me go back, are you?"

He had thought about it. A lot. In this new pack, Leah was the one he least wanted to keep around, even if he didn't think the others would be as useful in front of the Council. Not to mention that it would piss Sam off that his ex-girlfriend was on the other side. Jacob couldn't afford to have Sam too angry at him, not when they were all trying to get along despite the persistent voice screaming in his head to just rip Sam to pieces and be done with it. It was better to get rid of her while he still had the chance. She was a pain in the ass, anyways.

But looking at her terrified eyes Jacob knew he could never actually go through with ordering Leah away. She may have been a pain in this ass, but she should be free to choose which pack she stayed with. If she wanted it to be his...he would let her stay.

Even if he _knew_ she was going to make him regret it at least once a day. It was the price he had to pay for her surprisingly not-completely-crap advice.

"No. No way in hell, Leah. You're stuck with me now."

She smiled in way that actually made her look sort of beautiful.

"Thank you." She brushed the hair from his eyes, trying to make him look like a match for Sam. It was annoying how she sometimes forgot he wasn't her little brother even if he did look an awful lot like Seth, but she seemed upset and Jacob wasn't about to ruin any moment where Leah was acting like an actual feeling human being. He let her try to make him look like the Alpha he so desperately wanted to be. He didn't think it would work, but Leah had more than just hair care to offer.

Her voice was sure this time. "Well, not to promote the bitter ex-girlfriend stereotype, but I figure since it's way too late for that I might as well say it anyway: Kick his fucking ass, Jake."

With that, she got up and went to sit beside Embry. Who knew Leah could develop a sense of humor about her situation? Not Jacob. But if she could get some perspective on the whole Sam thing, then maybe there was hope for her yet.

Jared had finally sat down; time for the meeting to start. It was hard to keep a straight face because Jacob was pretty sure he _could_ literally kick Sam's ass now. He had grown a lot in the past month. This might even be fun.

But it wouldn't hurt to be polite.

"Let's get this show on the road. Is there anything you want to say first, Sam?"

Even as he asked the question, Jacob's resolve solidified. Whatever Sam wanted, Jacob's pack was going to stay together. Quil, Embry and the Clearwaters were going to stay where they were, where they belonged. And if Sam didn't like it?

Tough.

* * *

The End


End file.
